I recently received an email from someone who was going to donate one of her kidneys for a dear friend in need.

Of course, she is the model for courage on the deepest level.

Given this apt example of self-sacrifice, how dedicated are you to your art? What is art? These are questions worth noting on a regular basis.

The art I am talking about is art that comes into being for no other reason than to be—art from the soul, art from the inner artist, which must be felt to be created, to be seen, and to be appreciated.

Art from the soul comes into being from intuition; such art by definition is transcendental to thought and doesn’t come from thinking or conceptualizing, which are cerebral pursuits. The art that concerns us here isnt a qualifier (art therapy) nor is it the object of a modifier (commercial art).

Art from the soul is art without motive. This is what is meant by that familiar and much misunderstood proclamation: art for arts sake.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Vincent van Gogh’s life as a ‘tortured’ artist has become a cliche while his art continues to sell at auction for many millions of dollars.

But the living Vincent was far from a cliche; he was a breathing, feeling, and astute person; he was lucid when he painted his remarkable canvases, and when he wrote his many letters, which provide us with an unusual opportunity as voyeurs to see inside his soul.

Here’s a wonderful website that offers Vincent’s letters, and you can search by topic as well.

http://webexhibits.org/vangogh

His letters to his brother Theo are a narrative of his life as an artist who was not attached to the confines of impressionism, the modern art of his era.

Remember, as a creator, it is you who must face the blank canvas or page.

Keep this knowledge as a basis for maintaining morale, a prerequisite for persevering.

Only the strong survive.

Reading what the ‘experts’ on art have to say will open your eyes to the difference between intellectualizing and intuitive knowing.

If you would like to educate yourself a bit about the art market, see the November, 2007 issue of New York Magazine.

With such articles pitched as Is Money Killing Art? or The Artists Who Matter Now, you will appreciate how art is turned into a commodity, which isn’t inherently a vice.

Art that sells for hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars has entered the world of merchandising to a certain art buying clientele. Keep in mind that an artist can do quite well selling to patrons with smaller pocketbooks—but such acquistions doen’t make for outrageous headlines.

Money is not killing art; I would be tempted to say that if anything, greed is the culprit. But keep in mind that such articles are not about art; they are spinning about the high end art market, which is a business, not an ashram. 

And as for which artists matter, you will have to make up your own mind.